1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of child seat restraints for automotive vehicles and in particular to a restraint anchorage system for securing the child restraint seat to the seat of a vehicle.
2. Background Art
For many years, child safety seats have been required by law for small children riding in automotive vehicles. In the past, these child safety seats have been secured to a passenger seat using the seat belts provided for adult passengers. These seat belts are anchored to one or more structural members of the vehicle. The seat belts are normally threaded through apertures or slots provided in the child safety seat to secure the child safety seat to the seat of the vehicle. The procedure for mounting these child safety seats is awkward and sometimes complex. As a result, the child safety seat is improperly secured to the seat of the vehicle and the child is not afforded the desired protection in the event of an accident.
To overcome these problems, various regulations have been implemented requiring a standardization of the structure and methods for securing the child safety seat in an automotive vehicle. A new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard requires vehicles be equipped with child seat restraint anchorage systems of the type outlined in the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard MVSS 225 Child Tether Restraint Anchorage system, Section S9.1, requires that latch wires be rigidly attached to the vehicle, preferably one on each side of the child seat. As disclosed by Youssef-Agha, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,754, the child safety seat has a pair of latch mechanisms which lockingly engage the latch wires to secure the child safety seat to the seat of the vehicle. In the embodiments disclosed by Youssef-Agha, the latch wires are welded to a cross member. In an alternate embodiment known in the prior art, the latch wires 10 are attached to a cross member 12 as shown in FIG. 1. Each latch wire 10 is a U-shaped member having a pair of legs 14 which pass through holes 16 provided in the cross member 12. The end portions 18 of each of the legs 14 are bent to lie flat against the surface of the cross member 12 on the side opposite the transverse portion 20 of the U-shaped latch wire 10. The legs 14 do not have collars which engage the cross member 12 and limit the extent to which the end portions are received through the holes 16. The end portions 18 of the latch wire 10 are then welded to secure latch wire 10 to the cross member 12. Because the end portions 18 of the legs are bent prior to being inserted through the holes 16, the holes 16 have to be elongated to accept the bent end portions 18 therethrough. These elongated holes decrease the strength of the cross member 12. Further, it has been found that the welding of the latch wires 10 to the cross member 12 distort the cross member causing unacceptable assembly to assembly variations from a manufacturing point of view. This often requires reworking of the completed anchorage to meet product specifications. The invention is directed to an anchorage for a child safety seat in which the aforesaid problems are eliminated.